Obama and Hillary in Unity

Anyone who objectively watched Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama share the stage in Unity, New Hampshire, were no doubt struck by a couple of things that seemed out of place with the “we’re fast friends” speeches.

If I had listened to both speeches in Unity, New Hampshire, without watching it at the same time I would have been convinced that the Democratic Party was well on the way to being united under the leadership of a candidate who respected and truly welcomed his opponent’s supporters. Most of Barack Obama’s words certainly gave the impression of a united and respectful front. The problem with this angelic scene is that words are one thing but body language is quite another matter. Barack Obama’s body language by no means marched the unity atmosphere of togetherness.

Barack Obama showed his disrespect for his companion in a couple of ways. First, Barack Obama did not wear a buttoned suit jacket or sport coat. There is a time and place for casual dress but when you are trying to win over a previous opponent’s supporters that is probably not a good time for anything but your best business attire. Obama could have easily unbuttoned his suit coat when Hillary Clinton’s speech was over, which would have communicated a desire for less formal dress. To not wear a suit jacket for the entire performance simply did not back up his words of unity with the actions those words needed.

Women have been the subject of condescending comments by men for all too many years and so they jump out at us when we hear yet another one. Barack Obama made this tragic and probably unconscious mistake today when he was supposedly praising Hillary Clinton. At one point in his speech Obama said in reference to Clinton’s accomplishments, “She proved women can do anything the boys can do and do it better, and do it in heels. I still don’t know how she does it in heels”

Please allow me to pick those two sentences apart from a woman’s point of view. In the first sentence Barack Obama mentioned, “…women can do anything the boys can do…”. Men often consciously or subconsciously try to diminish a female’s accomplishments by comparing a grown woman’s endeavors to a “boy’s” accomplishments. Why couldn’t Barack Obama have said something like, “Hillary Clinton proved women can do anything men can do?” The second very condescending comment Barack Obama made was when he said, “…and do it in heels”. From a woman’s point of view, that gives the impression that Barack Obama thinks women’s heels somehow adversely affects their mental capabilities. Hmmmmmmm!! Now that I think about this, there is that little issue of men wearing a long piece of cloth wrapped around their necks and knotted tightly in the front. Could it be those ties have an adverse affect on men’s abilities to think critically and clearly?? That issue is for a completely different blog though. The last thing that Barack Obama said that was extremely condescending was, “I don’t know how she does it in heels.” Hillary Clinton chuckled at the right moment so as not to draw attention to the fact that Obama had just committed a major faux pa. From a woman’s point of view, what do our heels, pantsuits, dresses, or any other type of attire have to do with a woman’s ability to think and perform as good or better than any man??

If Barack Obama wants to win over Hillary Clinton supporters he might want to think about hiring an etiquette coach before giving another speech that references or addresses women. At this point I “just say no deal".